The Prevalence and Predictors of Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Registered Nurses in an Eastern Canadian Province: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background The quality of Registered Nurses’ worklife is impacting nurses’ mental health, and the standard of care received by clients. Contributing factors to nurses’ stress are the trauma of continuous caring for those in great suffering, and adverse working conditions. Objectives i) to explore the prevalence of work-related stress in a provincial sample of Registered Nurses; ii) to compare the levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress reported by nurses in hospital, community, non-direct care settings, and, iii) to identify factors that predict levels of nursing work stress. Methods A descriptive, predictive study with a self-report survey containing demographic questions and the Professional Quality of Life Scale was emailed to over 3,300 Registered Nurses. The scale measured the prevalence of three worklife indicators, compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Multiple linear regression identified factors that predicted the levels of the three indicators. A subgroup analysis explored the quality of worklife based on three practice environments. Findings Nurses (n = 661) reported moderate compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The strongest predictor, satisfaction with one's current job, predicted high compassion satisfaction and lower burnout and secondary stress. The subgroup analysis identified hospital nurses as having the most work-related stress and the lowest level of compassion satisfaction. Conclusion Innovative, collaborative action can transform nurses’ practice environments. Organizational support is essential to bring about needed improvements.

Areas of work‐life, psychological capital and emotional intelligence on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among nurses: A cross‐sectional study

“…Evidence has demonstrated that overburdened work environments can increase nurses' vulnerability to compassion fatigue (Sinclair et al, 2017;Xie et al, 2021). Compassion fatigue represents a negative impact of nurses' work-related stress, and decreases care capacity (Maddigan et al, 2023;Stamm, 2010;Yesil & Polat, 2023). Peters (2018) defined compassion fatigue as "a preventable state of holistic exhaustion that manifests as a physical decline in energy and endurance, an emotional decline in empathetic ability and emotional exhaustion, and a spiritual decline as one feels hopeless or helpless to recover those results from chronic exposure to others' suffering, compassion, high stress exposure, and high occupational use of self in the absence of boundary setting and self-care measures" (p. 470).…”

“…The chronic physical, emotional and psychological toll of providing quality care in complex and high‐pressure environments can become a “cost of caring” for nurses. This is due, in part, to the profession's relational nature, which can not only promote nurses' compassionate connections with patients but also deplete their emotional resources due to the inherent stress of nursing practice (Maddigan et al., 2023 ; Zhang et al., 2018 ). Such an unrelenting and emotional work environment can lead to increased compassion fatigue and reduced compassion satisfaction, which contributes to a panoply of negative outcomes for nurses, patients and healthcare organizations (Al‐Marri et al., 2020 ; Yu et al., 2021 ).…”

“…Evidence has demonstrated that overburdened work environments can increase nurses' vulnerability to compassion fatigue (Sinclair et al., 2017 ; Xie et al., 2021 ). Compassion fatigue represents a negative impact of nurses' work‐related stress, and decreases care capacity (Maddigan et al., 2023 ; Stamm, 2010 ; Yesil & Polat, 2023 ).…”